Unit Syllabus
Suggested Reading Schedule Posted in Classroom
Due Dates;
September 2, Chapter 12 Essay
September 9, Chapter 13 Essay
September 16, Chapter 14 Essay
September 27, Unit I Test
Quizzes given and taken as needed.
I: Crisis and Renewa
l: A Civilization is Born
Chapter 12: The Crisis of the Later Middle Ages
Key Terms
• Great Famine
• representative assemblies • merchet
• Black Death • nationalism • banns
• buba • Babylonian Captivity • Jacquerie
• flagellants • schism • racism
• Crécy • conciliarists • Dalimil Chronicle
• Agincourt • Statute of Kilkenny • peasant revolts
• Joan of Arc
Essay Topics
A. Defend or Refute: The Black Death of the fourteenth century a crucial turning point in European history?
B. Discuss the outbreak of popular uprisings all across Europe during the fourteenth century, their causes, goals of the rebels, tactics use by all sides, and extent of their success of the uprisings.
C. Examine the immediate political, social, and economic results and the long term implications of the Hundred Years' War on for both England and France?
D. Explain the problems of the papacy, exemplified by the Babylonian Captivity, the rise to the conciliar movement and how it contributed to schism in the church. What were the consequences ⎯ religious, social, and political ⎯ of this crisis in the Christian church?
E. The later Middle Ages witnessed a transformation on the frontiers of Europe, a transformation that was caused by the great surge in migration and colonization from England, Germany, and France. Describe the changes resulting from this colonization of frontier regions. What was the primary cause of these changes, and what were the consequences?
Chapter 13: European Society in the Age of the Renaissance
Key Terms
• Renaissance • princely courts • Pragmatic Sanction of Bourges
• communes • The Prince • royal council
• popolo • humanism • court of the Star Chamber
• signori • secularism • justices of the peace
• oligarchies • individualism • New Christians
• republic • gabelle • hermandades
Essay Topics
A. How did anti-Semitism in Spain contribute to the development of modern theories of race?
B. The Italian city-states developed a theory and practical forms of international politics that would eventually be adopted by the great powers of Europe ⎯ the balance of power. Describe the basic tenets of this system of international relations and assess why that system was able to preserve the independence of the Italian city-states. What were the major deficiencies of the system, and what was the impact on the Italian city states?
C. In what ways do Machiavelli's The Prince, Castiglione's The Courtier, and Alberti's “Self-Portrait of a Universal Man” echo the fundamental principles of the Italian Renaissance? Choose one of the three and explain how that work would have been used by a Renaissance person to provide guidance.
D. In many ways the Renaissance was primarily an artistic movement. Describe Renaissance art including its themes and techniques, how were artists trained, the status of the artist in society, their audience, and how Renaissance art reflected the changing attitudes and interests of Europeans?
E. Discuss the status of women, both upper-class and common, and what it reveals about Renaissance during this period.
F. Discuss the formation of the modern Spanish state under Ferdinand and Isabella and how its experience resembled, yet differed from that of of England and France and the historical implications of this development.
Chapter 14: Reform and Renewal in the Christian Church
Key Terms
• pluralism • consubstantiation • Anabaptists
• The Imitation of Christ • Lord's Supper • Book of Common Prayer
• ecumenical council • preacherships • Elizabethan Settlement
• indulgence • peasant revolts • Jesuits
• Diet of Worms • Institutes of the Christian Religion • Holy Office
• Protestant • predestination • sola scriptura
• transubstantiation
Essay Topics
A. Explain why Luther's challenge to the sale of indulgences sparked such a startling revolution in European history in light of previous uprisings against the Church?
B. Discuss the political, social, and economic consequences of the Reformation and the affect it had on women?
C. How did the established Christian church, headquartered in Rome, respond to the challenge presented by Luther and subsequent Protestant reformers?
D. Explain the political motivations for European rulers to join the Protestant Reformation, providing specific examples of the links between politics and the Reform movement.
E. Examine the English Reformation was an act of state, initiated by the king's emotional life, as well as by dynastic and political concerns, the accuracy of is this assessment, and the long-term consequences of the Reformation in England?
